History of japan

Welcome to my blog... this week you will know the hidden history of japan. Japan is a well-known country as you can see now in worldwide.

PART ONE

The written history of japan began with brief appearances in Chinese History Texts from the first century AD. However, archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the upper paleolithic period. Following the last ice-age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human development, yielding the earliest known pottery during the Jomon period. Japanese history has alternating periods of long isolation punctuated by radical, often revolutionary, influences from the outside world.

1) Japanese Pre-History

1.1 Paleolithic

The Japanese Paleolithic (旧石器時代, kyū-sekki-jidai) covers a period starting from around 100,000 to 30,000 BC, when the earliest stone-tool implements have been found, and ending around 12,000 BC, at the end of the last Ice-Age, corresponding with the beginning of the Mesolithic Jomon period. A start date of around 35,000 BC date is most generally accepted[citation needed]. The Japanese archipelago was disconnected from the continent after last ice age, around 11,000 BC. After the disclosure of the hoax by an amateur researcher, many of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic sites have been under thorough reinvestigation.

Polished stone axes, excavated at Hinatabayashi B site, Shinano, Nagano. Pre-Jōmon (Paleolithic) period, 30,000 BC. Tokyo National Museum.

1.2 Jomon Period
The Jōmon period (縄文時代, Jōmon-jidai) lasted from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC. The first signs of Civilization and stable living patterns appeared around 14,000 BC with the Jomon culture, characterized by a mesolithic to neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of wood stilt house and pit dwelling and a rudimentary form of agriculture. Weaving was still unknown and clothes were often made of Bark. Bear worship was common, as many place names still today have the word "kuma" (bear) in them. Around that time, however, the Jōmon people started to make clay vessels, decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks (Jōmon means "patterns of plaited cord"). Some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world may be found in Japan, based on radio-carbon dating, along with daggers, jade, combs made of shells, and other household items dated to the 11th millinneum BC, although the specific dating is disputed. Clay figures (dogu) were also excavated. The household items suggest trade routes existed with places as far away as Okinawa. DNA analysis suggests that the Ainu, an indigenous people lived in Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu are descended from the Jōmon and thus represent descendants of the first inhabitants of Japan

A Middle Jōmon vessel (3000-2000 BC).

1.3 Yayoi Period
The Yayoi period (弥生時代, Yayoi jidai) lasted from about 400 or 300 BC to 250AD. It is named after Yayoi town, the subsection of Bunkyo, Tokyo where archaeological investigations uncovered its first recognized traces.
The start of the Yayoi period marked the influx of new practices such as weaving, rice farming, shamanism and iron and bronze-making brought from outside of Japan. For example, some paleoethnobotany researches show that wet-rice cultivation began about 2500 BC in the Yangtze River Delta and spread to Japan[citation needed].
Japan first appeared in written records in AD 57 with the following mention in China's Book Of Later Han: "Across the ocean from Luoyang are the people of Wa. Formed from more than one hundred tribes, they come and pay tribute frequently." The Book Of Wei written in the 3rd century noted the country of Yamataikoku, the unification of some 30 smaller tribes or states and ruled by a shaman queen named Himiko.
During the Han Dynasty and Wei dynasty, Chinese travelers to kyushu recorded its inhabitants and claimed that they were the descendants of the Grand Count (Tàibó) of the Wu. The inhabitants also show traits of the pre-sinicized Wu people with tattooing, teeth-pulling and baby-carrying. The Book Of Wei records the physical descriptions which are similar to ones on Haniwa statues, such men with braided hair, tattooing and women wearing large, single-piece clothing.
The Yoshinogari site is the most famous archaeological site in the Yayoi period and reveals a large, continuously inhabited settlement in Kyushu for several hundreds of years. Excavation has shown the most ancient parts to be around 400 BC. Artifacts include iron and bronze objects, including those from China. It appears the inhabitants had frequent communication with the mainland and trade relations. Today some reconstructed buildings exists in the park on the archaeological site.

A Yayoi period Dotaku, 3rd century AD